> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.samesystem.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.samesystem.dev/api-v2-reference/getting-authenticated.md).

# Getting authenticated

SameSystem API v2 uses **token-based authentication**. Before accessing protected API endpoints, your integration must authenticate using the dedicated API user provided by SameSystem.

See [**API Access**](/getting-started/api-access.md) for information about requesting an API user.

### Login

Use the **Login** endpoint to authenticate with the API user's credentials.

A successful login returns the authentication token required for subsequent API requests.

For the exact endpoint, request body, and response format, see the [**Login** ](/api-v2-reference/authentication.md)endpoint in the API v2 reference.

### Using the Access Token

After successfully authenticating, include the returned access token when making requests to protected API v2 endpoints.

The token must be sent in the `Authorization` header as a Bearer token:

`Authorization: Bearer <access_token>`

The token is valid for 60 minutes.

Your integration should securely store and reuse the token according to its validity rather than authenticating before every API request.

### Multiple clients

If you have multiple clients and one API user, you will need to login using the clientToken that belongs to the client where your API user is created.


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